The Gardens of De Wiersse
Away from the world, surrounded by its farmland and woods, lies the moated manor house of De Wiersse. With 38 acres of garden and 74 acres of landscape park, the house and its surroundings have been lived in, designed and managed by the family since 1678. In this historic garden a sequence of surprises awaits the visitor – avenues and pergolas, fountains and statues, meadows and formal parterres, bridges over a gently flowing stream and a serpentine tunnel of beech. The moss and ferns beside the paths of the romantic wild garden give way first to a productive kitchen garden and then to the mixed borders, dry stone wall and pergola of the sunken garden. Countless bulbs and spring flowers are found throughout the garden, naturalised in woodland and meadows: Fritillaries, Crocusses, Species Tulips and many more.
Oxford Companion to the Garden: “One of the best kept estates in the country”
‘Algemeen Dagblad’: (translation): “The most beautiful garden in the Netherlands”
Dates & tickets:
Open weekly from April 13th till end of September every Thursday and Friday (10 am to 3 pm). During the open days there is a small tea room open in the garage. On Saturdays there is a guided tour (in Dutch) at 10.30. Tickets are EUR 7,50. Children up to 16 are free. Dogs are not permitted. Parking (along the Wiersserallee) is free.
Private guided tours in English can be arranged on almost any day. Please email us for pricing and bookings at info@dewiersse.com.
Casting a spell, 21 January 2015
text: James McGrath; photographs: Marianne Majerus
"Some gardens possess a unique spirit, measured by a careful balance of geography, landscape, layout and plants, but, most importantly, it’s the people who create and inhabit the garden that are intrinsic to its success. In my estimation, no other place achieves the balance of these elements more gracefully than De Wiersse, in the Dutch countryside."
De Wiersse: formal and romantic, March 1992
E.V. Gatacre
"Many foreign influences, from the south of Ireland to the Italian Liguria, have contributed to this garden and park. Yet its natural character and historical continuity have predominated as each successive generation has taken on responsibility for the development of de Wiersse."
The Spanish Leather Hall
Victor de Stuers (1843-1916) was an avid collector as well as being responsible for building the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. He assembled 17th century elements to furnish the principal room in his house in the Hague. Alice, Victor de Stuers's only child and heir, moved the furnishings of the ‘Spanish Leather Hall’ to the ‘Bouwhuis’ (the coach house) of de Wiersse in 1924.
Groups of between 15 and 35 people can crown their garden visit with a home-cooked lunch or tea in the grand but intimate Spanish Leather Hall .
Click here for more information